Skill Reviewer

Skill Reviewer

Review and improve Claude Code skills against official best practices.

Quick Start

Run the bundled reviewer with PyYAML declared explicitly through uv:

uv run --with PyYAML python <this-skill-path>/scripts/review_skill.py <target-skill-path>
uv run --with PyYAML python <this-skill-path>/scripts/review_skill.py <target-skill-path> --json

The reviewer delegates YAML, schema, and internal-path validation to the canonical skill-creator validator bundled in the same suite. It then checks frontmatter quality, directory structure, SKILL.md size, hardcoded paths and secrets, script hygiene, subagent_type validity, and instruction-style heuristics.

Interpret exit codes as follows: 0 = clean, 1 = warnings only, 2 = review errors, 3 = invocation or runtime failure. Codes 1 and 2 describe the target skill; code 3 means the reviewer could not complete a trustworthy review.

Use the sibling skill-creator scripts for the deeper security scan and packaging checks.

Three Modes

Mode 1: Self-Review

Check your own skill before publishing.

Automated review:

uv run --with PyYAML python <this-skill-path>/scripts/review_skill.py <target-skill>

Extended security validation:

# Security scan
uv run python <this-skill-path>/../skill-creator/scripts/security_scan.py <target-skill> --verbose

Manual evaluation: See references/evaluation_checklist.md.

Mode 2: External Review

Evaluate someone else's skill repository.

Review Workflow:
- [ ] Clone repository to /tmp/
- [ ] Read ALL documentation first
- [ ] Identify author's intent
- [ ] Run evaluation checklist
- [ ] Generate improvement report

Mode 3: Auto-PR

Fork, improve, and submit PR to external skill repository.

Auto-PR Workflow:
- [ ] Fork repository (gh repo fork)
- [ ] Create feature branch
- [ ] Apply additive improvements only
- [ ] Self-review: respect check passed?
- [ ] Create PR with detailed explanation

Evaluation Checklist (Quick)

| Category | Check | Status |

|----------|-------|--------|

| Frontmatter | name present? | |

| | description present? | |

| | description in third-person? | |

| | includes trigger conditions? | |

| Instructions | imperative form? | |

| | under 500 lines? | |

| | workflow pattern? | |

| Resources | no hardcoded paths? | |

| | scripts have error handling? | |

Full checklist: references/evaluation_checklist.md

Core Principle: Additive Only

When improving external skills, NEVER:

• Delete existing files
• Remove functionality
• Change primary language
• Rename components

ALWAYS:

• Add new capabilities
• Preserve original content
• Explain every change

❌ "Removed metadata.json (non-standard)"
✅ "Added marketplace.json (metadata.json preserved)"

❌ "Rewrote README in English"
✅ "Added README.en.md (Chinese preserved as default)"

Common Issues & Fixes

Issue: Description Not Third-Person

# Before
description: Browse YouTube videos and summarize them.

# After
description: Browses YouTube videos and generates summaries. Use when...

Issue: Missing Trigger Conditions

# Before
description: Processes PDF files.

# After
description: Extracts text from PDFs. Use when working with PDF files or when the user mentions PDFs, forms, or document extraction.

Issue: No Workflow Pattern

Add checklist for complex tasks:

## Workflow

Copy this checklist:

\`\`\`
Task Progress:
- [ ] Step 1: ...
- [ ] Step 2: ...
\`\`\`

Issue: Missing Marketplace Support

Adding or validating marketplace.json (plugin boundaries, source/skills

layout, whether skills are independently toggleable) is the marketplace-dev

skill's domain — don't author it from a template here. Invoke

daymade-claude-code:marketplace-dev, then follow its workflow and its cache

and source patterns reference.

PR Guidelines

When submitting PRs to external repos:

Tone

❌ "Your skill doesn't follow best practices"
✅ "This PR aligns with best practices for better discoverability"

❌ "Fixed the incorrect description"
✅ "Improved description with trigger conditions"

Required Sections

• Summary - What this PR does
• What's NOT Changed - Show respect for original
• Rationale - Why each change helps
• Test Plan - How to verify

Template: references/pr_template.md

Self-Review Checklist

Before submitting any PR:

Respect Check:
- [ ] No files deleted?
- [ ] No functionality removed?
- [ ] Original language preserved?
- [ ] Author's design decisions respected?
- [ ] All changes are additive?
- [ ] PR explains the "why"?

References

• scripts/review_skill.py - Automated reviewer backed by skill-creator validation
• references/evaluation_checklist.md - Full evaluation checklist
• references/pr_template.md - PR description template
• Best practices: https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/agents-and-tools/agent-skills/best-practices